Nick Fury Was Almost Peter Parker's Mentor In Spider-Man: Homecoming

What would Spider-Man be like if he took advice from Nick Fury instead of Iron Man? We almost found out.

Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts told io9 that he originally envisioned Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as the mentor to Peter Parker (Tom Holland). He even created images of Nick Fury in the role for early "mood reels" before he was hired to helm the Marvel flick.

"I don't know what the situation would be," he said. "But [Spider-Man] would be a person [Nick Fury would] want to get in trouble with."

Of course, Anthony and Joe Russo established that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is the one who brings Spider-Man into the mix in Captain America: Civil War, and Watts was happy to develop that storyline further. 

"The Russo Brothers set up this relationship just so elegantly in Civil War," Watts said. "So, for me, it was about examining the fallout of that. Because when you look at what they did in that movie, Tony Stark plucks this 15-year-old kid out of obscurity, takes him on this insane adventure in Germany, doing something that's potentially very questionable, and then we see him just dropped off in his bedroom in Queens. So the question is, 'Now what?' That lays the groundwork for a lot of interesting questions like 'How much did Tony really think this through?' 'What did Peter think now about his relationship with Tony?' 'Is Tony ready for this kind of responsibility?' To me that movie raised so many fun and interesting questions that I used that as the spring board into [Homecoming]."

It definitely would have been interesting to see how Nick Fury would have influenced Spider-Man, but it likely would've been in a slightly darker direction. And, obviously, Tony Stark gives Spider-Man that sweet upgraded suit. 

Spider-Man: Homecoming lands in theaters on July 7. Until then, find out the real story behind Peter Parker's cameo as a kid in Iron Man 2.